# The Age Old Question...Humidor Air Circulation



## CigarScotty (Mar 23, 2017)

Ok guys. Recently bought a 3000ct cabinet humidor. I am using a Cigar Oasis Magna 2.0 for humidification. I also have 2 computer fans ran. My humidifier is on the bottom of my humidor as well as the fans. I have the both angled at 45 degrees on opposite corners (diagonal from each other). I have a Xikar hygrometer that uses the remote hygrometers to monitor humidity from different areas of the humidor. So the section at bottom of the humidor that is houses the Magna and the fans is reading a stead 72%-73% while the middle and the top are readings 64%-66%. I guess my question is, could the bottom be reading higher due to the humidifier being closer? Should I do something different with my fans to allow for better air circulation? The humidor isn't loaded. I probably have about 400 cigars in it currently.


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## SurfnSafari (Aug 1, 2017)

Well you got a situation I would say best answer by someone with personal of big humidors. I assume the boxes with the question marks are corrupted photo of your set up.

Hope someone with big humidor experience can be of help. Would like to see your big humidor.


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## Matfam1 (Oct 13, 2017)

I’d like to see pics too. Remember RH is measurement of moisture content in the air relative to temperature of said air. As the temperature of air increases, with no increase in moisture content, the RH will go down and as the temperature decreases with no moisture being removed the RH will go up. The air at the top of the humidifier may be several degrees warmer due to lighting or something. The actual moisture content has not changed, the temperature has, thus causing fluctuations in the RH. 


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## Cigary (Oct 19, 2007)

There are actually variables as to why some humidors have an increase of relative humidity which corresponds to the size of the humidor itself. In this regard a 3000 count humidor tends to go through some subtle if not varying changes because of media equipment....of the humidor itself not being properly seasoned and time will sort that out as far as what is being used. A fan will change the dynamics of the concentration because air/RH is now swirling in a larger area and to think it can be controlled in that amount of space is wishful thinking. At some point with plenty of time the value of the numbers will change and become more stable and while I know there are plenty of people who love to use fans this is an aspect that drives enthusiasts absolutely crazy... one thing to consider is not to "overkill" the process by using multiple fans... or too powerful of a fan. The idea is to maintain a controlled environment inside of the humidor and in this techie world some of our enthusiastic brothers add too much and in some aspects take away from the process....the theory of ....if 2 aspirins are good enough to cure a headache adding another aspirin should be better. I can't even tell you how many threads I have read in the last couple of decades where these large humidors go south in a hurry... trying to control the environment inside of these monstrositys takes a lot of patience... experience... and knowing the quality of the humidor itself. Unless you have traveled this road before and have purchased these behemoths you're going to deal with the learning curve of maintaining a stable relative humidity... trial and error. While they may look beautiful and have the ability to store a ton of product they sometimes act like a beautiful horse... nice to look at but difficult to tame. JMHO


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## HBNDN (Aug 9, 2017)

I have this same problem. I have a 500 count big footlocker humidor and I have a pound of 65% beads sitting in the bottom. The hygrometer I have at the top reads 65% and the bottom reads 60%. That's a problem that I'm currently battling. I think large humidors take a lot of tweaking, like Cigary said above. If you're going to age cigars in the box like I do, you have to have a large humidor, there's no way around it. I think if you can get the whole thing within the range of 60% to 70% that is good enough.


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## SurfnSafari (Aug 1, 2017)

I was down at Ye Old B & M yesterday that has a big cabinate, as I was curious to see their set up in the cabinate that hold maybe 100 + Boxes, they have a simple system that products humidity via Distilled H2O, and a single blower.

Ask the guy who ran the place how they control RH, he point out the simple system and a Gague that measures RH & Temp about 4.5 feet off the bottom. I would guess this set up is like 8' tall. Seem to work, apprently when the RH get to 70% unit shut off, and when it falls below 66% it turn on making moisture.

There is an alarm that indicate the Unit need to be filled with H20, simple setup.


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## Cigary (Oct 19, 2007)

SurfnSafari said:


> I was down at Ye Old B & M yesterday that has a big cabinate, as I was curious to see their set up in the cabinate that hold maybe 100 + Boxes, they have a simple system that products humidity via Distilled H2O, and a single blower.
> 
> Ask the guy who ran the place how they control RH, he point out the simple system and a Gague that measures RH & Temp about 4.5 feet off the bottom. I would guess this set up is like 8' tall. Seem to work, apprently when the RH get to 70% unit shut off, and when it falls below 66% it turn on making moisture.
> 
> There is an alarm that indicate the Unit need to be filled with H20, simple setup.


This is a system that has been used for a couple of decades where B&M's converted their entire store over to a forced RH system that blows measured temp/RH into the entire area and it works well. I can remember B&M's in Palm Beach Gardens ( Sabor Havana ) that had this and it was great because they didn't have to spend tons of money for a private humidor...the store was already climatized to accept the temps/RH environment and all they had to do was put out product on shelves.

There should be an order as to building a home system with the large Humidors:

1. Ensure that the unit will hold RH which means a seasoning process just like we do with regular wood humidors...this will take time and however long it takes is what it's going to take...with smaller humidors it can take up to a week or more to ensure that the RH is accurate. Research how others used different methods of media to get the RH where you want it. Bovedas and KL are media that works well to maintain consistent RH once you know that are no leaks or QC issues with your large humidor.
2. Once the humidor is at a RH you want then you can put in the cigars but you'll have to apply patience once again because the insertion of cigars will change the numbers.
3. Some tend to put the cart before the horse when setting up this large system....they take their inventory and fans and media and dump them into this large humidor and expect the numbers to magically get to what they want...doesn't work like that as you take each step and exhaust the process before moving on to the next step and treating each step as critical to success.


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## ice_nyne (Apr 12, 2017)

Cigary said:


> 1. Ensure that the unit will hold RH which means a seasoning process just like we do with regular wood humidors...this will take time and however long it takes is what it's going to take...with smaller humidors it can take up to a week or more to ensure that the RH is accurate. Research how others used different methods of media to get the RH where you want it. Bovedas and KL are media that works well to maintain consistent RH once you know that are no leaks or QC issues with your large humidor.


This step cannot be overstated. It will make or break your set up. People rush it and up with a humidor that can't hold RH properly. Take the extra time now to protect your sticks down the road.

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